


Love at First Sign's For Suckers

by LadyoftheWittyRemarks



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, Minor Character Death, Modern Era, abused!romeo, deaf!specs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-24 17:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2589359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyoftheWittyRemarks/pseuds/LadyoftheWittyRemarks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After losing his father, Specs and his mother move for the last time. Specs isn't sure about his new school. That is, until a short, flirtatious, self-proclaimed Casanova walks into his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Deaf Man Walking

One day, when Matt was four years old, he woke up in a hospital. He didn’t understand what was going on. Sometimes at home mom would watch shows with hospitals on them, and they were always sort of noisy, with lots of beeping machines. But his room was scarily quiet, even though the machines were in there and lighting up. Sometimes doctors and nurses came in, but they never said anything. Matt asked them where his mom and dad were but they never answered him. They just looked sad and opened and closed their mouths like they were trying to tell him but no words could come out.  
Matt was in the hospital for two weeks before he felt better. Then a nice lady came in to see him. He asked her where his parents were, but she didn’t answer him either. Instead, she lifted her hands a few times like she was telling him to get up. Her mouth moved, too, just like the doctors and nurses. And that’s when Matt understood. It wasn’t that they weren’t answering him-  
He couldn’t hear.

Matt had been in the orphanage for two years. He thought he would probably be there forever. Sometimes people came and wanted to meet him, but every time they found out he couldn’t hear they would make a face and then leave very quickly and ask for another kid to talk to.  
Matt really couldn’t blame them for not wanting him – he couldn’t talk to anyone, so he didn’t even have any friends. Why would anyone want to be around someone they couldn’t even talk to?  
He had been sort of excited when he got his glasses, because it seemed like a lot of ladies thought little boys with glasses were cute. He thought maybe they would help him get adopted.  
They didn’t.  
Most days Matt just sat on him bed, either reading or, more often, staring out the window. Matt really liked to read, but he could only read books for very little kids just starting to read, so all the other kids laughed at him. But it wasn’t his fault no one could teach him what the big words meant - he couldn’t learn new words like they could.  
One day a new lady came into Matt’s room. She sat down next to him on his bed and smiled. He smiled back, just to be polite. He knew she wouldn’t want him. She tried to say something to him, and he turned away ashamed. But instead of leaving right away, she gently put a finger under his chin and guided his head back up so he was looking at her. She pointed at her ear, a question in her eyes. He shook his head.  
Then she did something strange. She made some sort of weird movements with her hands. She wasn’t pointing at anything like people usually did when they had to tell him to do something. His confusion must have shown on his face, because she stopped making them and frowned. She got up and went to talk to Brown Man, who was standing outside of Matt’s door watching them. Matt called him Brown Man because he always wore the same brown suit. The lady said something to Brown Man and he nodded. She said something else and this time he shook his head no. She got really angry then and they had a short argument.  
When he walked away, she came back in and patted his shoulder. She smiled at him again and said something, and then left, just like Matt knew she would.  
At least she had smiled at him.

 

The weird thing was, she came back the next day. She brought a man with her. He thought they were probably married. He didn’t know why she brought him with her – maybe so they could laugh at him together?  
Miss Angel came in with them. Her name probably wasn’t actually Angel, but Matt called her that because she reminded him of the angel they used to put on top of their Christmas tree.  
The lady talked to Miss Angel a lot. Sometimes the lady and the man would make weird hand motions at each other. Matt thought it was probably a secret language or something, because Miss Angel didn’t seem to understand them either – she only talked to the lady.  
The man turned to look at Matt and smiled. He pointed to his own ear. Matt nodded, but the man shook his head, and pointed to himself before pointing to his ear again.  
He couldn’t hear either.  
Then the lady pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote something down on it and showed it to him.  
Matt, do you want to come live with us? I know you don’t know us very well, but we would like it very much if you would like to be our son.  
Matt just stared at her for a minute. He couldn’t believe it, he really couldn’t. It had to be a joke.  
They actually wanted him?  
He pointed to himself and the lady nodded.  
Matt didn’t know what to do. He just kept looking at them. They were smiling at him.  
He nodded.

 

It turned out that the weird hand movements were something called sign language, and that a lot of people who couldn’t hear used it to talk to each other. The lady and the man (whose names were Anne and Will,) got him a special teacher to teach it to him. They tried to teach him a little bit as well, but they spent more time sitting with him or playing games or taking him to the park. And every night, they’d read with him. They didn’t think he was stupid for only reading like a four year old. They were very patient and nice and would try to help him with new words he didn’t know. Soon he was reading way above his age level.  
The sign language was harder, but Matt worked really hard, because he wanted to be able to talk to the people who kept calling him son. He wanted to ask them why they wanted him when no one else did.  
Sometimes Matt was afraid that he would do something wrong and they would send him back. He really didn’t want to leave, because they were very nice to him, and their house already started to feel like home.  
One day Matt dropped his milk glass on the floor and it shattered, milk and glass pieces flying everywhere. He immediately fled to his new bedroom, crying, sure they were going to come in and tell him to pack up his things and go.  
Instead, Will came quietly into the room and sat down next to him on the bed.  
“Are you okay?” he signed, looking worried. “Did you get hurt by the glass?”  
Matt shook his head, still sobbing.  
“Then what’s wrong?” He smiled. “Don’t go crying over spilled milk!” He laughed like he had made a joke.  
“Please don’t send me back!” Matt begged. “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, please. I don’t want to go back. I like it here.”  
Will slowly reached over to him and pulled him into a hug. He gently rubbed Matt’s back for a minute before moving away so he could sign.  
“Matt,” he signed, “I know it’s hard for you, being in a new home, and that you are scared. But we will never, ever send you away, okay? You’re our son now, and we love you.”  
Matt wiped the tears away from his eyes. “Really?”  
“Really,” Will said. “We love you so much, Matt. I know it’s hard for you to understand or to feel comfortable here in this new home, but I just want you to know that.”  
Matt looked at him for a very long time. “I love you too,” he signed, finally, and he leaned back in for another hug.

A few months later, Anne and Will were sitting on either side of him. They were all taking turns reading The Boxcar Children. Throughout the entire chapter, Matt was trying to work up the courage to ask them, and when they closed the book, he decided to.  
“Do you really love me?”  
They seemed surprised. “Of course we do,” Anne signed. “What made you think we don’t?”  
“Nothing,” signed Matt, “I was just wondering. Because… if you love me… I was wondering if maybe I can call you mom and dad?”  
They both smiled at him. They looked very happy.  
“Of course you can, Matt,” Mom signed. “Of course you can.” She kissed him right on top of his head. Then his dad – his dad, it made Matt so happy to call him that – kissed the top of his head too. Matt cuddled up closer to them and they sat there on the couch for a while, just happy to be together.

 

School was hard for Matt. No one at school could speak sign language like his mom and dad could, and he had to have an interpreter with him for classes and things, so a lot of the kids thought he was really weird.  
Sometimes he’d make a friend or two. But being friends usually just meant that those kids would sit next to him at lunch or in class. Sometimes they’d carry notebooks with them and have written conversations.  
His family moved around a lot, though, because of Dad’s job. Mom thought it was bad for Matt, but Matt really didn’t mind. He never had any close friends anyway, and he was pretty sure the friends he did have only spent time with him because they felt bad for him when he was alone.

Matt didn’t know why, but he and his dad got really close. He loved his mom – a lot – but he and his dad just seemed closer, somehow. Like they had more in common.  
Maybe it was because they were both deaf.  
They did a lot of things together, just the two of them. Dad used to take Matt to do all sorts of traditionally Dad-y activities. They’d play basketball, go fishing, go camping, things like that. But soon they both figured out that neither of them really enjoyed those particular activities, even if they did like spending the time together. So they found other things to do, like wandering around museums or going out and people watching.  
Matt’s dad taught him more than Matt knew a dad could even teach. He taught him about deep things like happiness, success, family, trust, and love. But he also taught him simple things like how to cook a grilled mac and cheese sandwich and how to thread a needle (because you’re not always going to have a woman around to do it for you, and who said she should have to do it anyway?) and the best times of day to go to the park if you want to see the maximum possible number of dogs in an hour.  
His family was perfect. And even if sometimes he thought of his “real” mom and dad, and wondered what would have happened if they hadn’t died, he was still insanely thankful that these two people had decided to take him home with them.


	2. Another Time, Another Place, Another Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt's at a new school, and he's as alone as ever. Or is he?

                One day, when Matt was 16 years old, he woke up in the hospital. He didn’t understand what was going on. His mom was by his bedside, but she hadn’t noticed he was awake. She was crying. His dad was nowhere to be seen. He shifted a bit in his bed, and his mom looked up at him.

                “ _Matt,”_ she signed, relief on her face even as the tears still fell. She got closer to his bed and smoothed his hair. “ _How are you feeling, sweetheart?”_

He suddenly registered how much pain he was in and winced. “ _It hurts.”_

She pressed the nurse call button, probably to tell them that he needed a higher dose of pain medication.

                “ _Where’s Dad?”_ Matt asked her, looking around for him again. _“Is he in a separate room? What happened?”_

Mom started crying again. “ _There – there was an accident,”_ she told him. “ _You were on your way home from a movie, and a drunk driver came out of nowhere and –“_ her hands went up to cover her eyes for a moment. “ _Oh, Matt, I thought you were going to-“_

She couldn’t finish her sentence, and to be honest, he didn’t want her to.

                “ _Is Dad okay?”_

She choked out a sob and covered her mouth with one of her hands. “ _No, Matt. Dad is- your dad is dead.”_

                It was an entire month and a half before Matt was allowed to leave the hospital. The ride home was nearly devoid of signing. Mom tried to get him to say something, say _anything_ , but he hadn’t signed a single thing since he’d found out his dad was dead.

                He’d been unable to leave the hospital for the funeral, which he couldn’t stop thinking about. He should have been there. The fact that he was at that time unable to leave the hospital bed did not make him feel any better.

                He and Mom both just sat in the car once they’d pulled into the driveway. It made him feel a tiny bit better that she didn’t want to face the house either. Eventually, though, they did have to go inside. Matt followed his mom into the kitchen to help with dinner. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor, afraid that looking at anything in the house would bring back painful memories.

                Mom broke down again while she was stirring the spaghetti, and Matt had to finish cooking dinner by himself. He didn’t mind –it took his mind off of things. He went to get her when the food was done, knocking on the door instead of going in, unable to face their bedroom. He returned to the kitchen, filled two cups with water, and set them down at the table. Mom came into the kitchen as he was filling his plate with pasta.

                They ate dinner without talking, though a couple times Matt thought it looked like his mom wanted to say something. He was glad she didn’t try. He felt bad for not answering her, but he just didn’t have it in him to talk.

                He helped his mom clean up after dinner, then immediately went to his room.

                He had never realized how many photos of his dad were in his room.

                Once he’d turned them all over so he didn’t have to look, didn’t have to remember, he climbed into bed without changing his clothes, curled up under his covers, and tried to sleep.

                Tried being the operative word.

 

                The next few weeks were pretty much the same as that first night. Other than meals, Matt didn’t leave his room very often. Every room was just a reminder of all the things he and his dad had done, and all of the things they’d never do again. The kitchen reminded him of all the times the three of them had baked Christmas cookies and gotten into flour fights. The living room reminded him of the discussions they had, of his dad helping him with his homework, of times spent where the three of them just sat curled up in separate chairs, silently reading in each other’s’ company.

                It was just too painful.

 

                About a month after Matt had returned from the hospital, his mom came into his room and sat down on his bed.

                _“Matt, sweetheart?”_ she signed. “ _I want to talk to you about something. I know you haven’t felt up to talking lately, but this is important.”_

                He nodded. “ _Yeah, okay.”_

                “ _I think we should think about moving just one last time,”_ she told him. “ _This house, this entire town… it’s been too painful for both of us. You haven’t left your room; I haven’t left the house… I think we need a change of scenery. Somewhere that isn’t so painful.”_

He shrugged and rolled over in his bed, trying to avoid her gaze so he didn’t feel so guilty. He knew how much she needed him right now, but he honestly didn’t have the energy to move.

                She put a hand on his arm, gently rubbing it until he turned back over to look at her.

                _“I know it’s been hard, Matt, but I can’t stand to see you like this. And your dad wouldn’t want-“_  

                He rolled over sharply, cutting off the rest of her sentence. His dad _couldn’t_ want anything. Not anymore.

                Her hand returned to his arm, creating a gentle pressure until he rolled back over again.

                “ _I’ve been talking with some friends of mine, and I think I’ve decided on a place. It isn’t too far of a move, and the high school is said to be excellent. There are a few houses I’ve been looking at, and I can choose for us, but I’d rather you help me make the decision.”_

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and went about showing him all of the houses. Once she’d finished, she asked him if there was one he preferred, then waited patiently for him to answer. He sat nearly as still as a statue for a while, hoping she’d eventually give up and go away. When it became obvious that that wasn’t going to happen, he finally lifted his arms and signed “ _The second one, I guess. It has a pool.”_

She smiled at him. “ _I thought you’d like that one. I’ll see what I can do.”_ She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “ _I love you, Matt.”_

_“Love you too,”_ he signed as she left the room.

 

                The new town was just as nice as his mother had described it to be. It was clean, with parks and trees and little corner coffee shops. It was almost his dream home.

                If only the circumstances were different.

                He did have to admit that it was nice to be able to walk around a house without being haunted by memories everywhere he looked.

                Maybe his mom had the right idea.

                He had everything in the entire house unpacked in about a week, even though his mom told him that he didn’t need to do any of it while she was at work. It helped take his mind off of things, like cooking dinner, and it was less for his mom to have to do.

                He put all of the photos of his dad in a drawer so he didn’t have to look at them unless he wanted to.

               

                Three weeks after they moved into the new house, he and his mom had an argument. In just two weeks he was supposed to be starting at the high school, and they were having a disagreement over his interpreter. That is, they disagreed on whether or not he should have one.

                He did not want an interpreter. Having some person follow him around all day made him an outcast in every single school he’d ever been to. If this was going to be the “fresh start” his mom kept promising, he wanted to at least have a c _hance_ of making friends.

                However, she was very quick to point out that he’d never learned how to read lips, and how was he supposed to understand his classes if he had no idea what his teachers were saying?

                Eventually, though, his argument won her over, and she agreed that he could at least try to go without an interpreter. If his grades dropped, though, she would have to put her foot down.

                His mom emailed all of the teachers ahead of time to tell them he’d be in their classes. He also emailed them personally just to make sure they knew that he did not want to be treated any differently than anyone else in the class. The only thing he asked was that, if it was okay with them, they could have a page with the notes typed up for him so that he could try to follow along in class and maybe learn to read lips.

                Luckily for him, most of his teachers seemed to be very willing to accommodate him and his request. There was just one, a history teacher named Mr. Terrot who sounded particularly strict and stuffy, who blatantly refused, and even had the nerve to call him lazy.

                He wasn’t really looking forward to that class.

                Even though he’d been looking forward to starting high school, he couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous as his mom drove him to school. The ride was uncomfortable, as his dad usually spent the first day of school car ride giving Matt a ridiculous pep talk that he didn’t even need.

                He kind of needed it now.

                His mom took so long saying goodbye to him that he was nearly late for his first class. After he got the notes from the teacher, he made his way to the only empty desk left in the room. Everyone else was seated in groups that already knew each other, talking enthusiastically. No one even noticed him sit down.

                Unfortunately, his teachers so far seemed to be the introduction sort of teachers – the kind that thought the best way to learn their names was to go around and have them all tell her their names and ‘one interesting thing about themselves.’ By his third class, he had a paper prepared. Written in Sharpie in large letters he wrote ‘ _My name is Matt. I’m deaf_.’

                He got a lot of stares.

                One of the teachers, in what was probably a kind-hearted attempt to be kind to him, made him sign his name, over and over until he could sign it back. He then made Matt come up with a fact about himself more interesting than his simple ‘I’m deaf.’ So he wrote ‘ _I like to cook’_ down, showed it to the teacher, and sat down as quickly as he could, face bright red.

                The class with Mr. Terrot went about as well as he’d expected. The man jumped straight into teaching the second the bell rang, without so much as an introduction. He also didn’t bother to face the class while he was talking, making it impossible for Matt to have any idea what he was saying, even if he had been able to read lips. So instead of even trying to pay attention, he spent the class looking around and trying to figure out who seemed to be taking the best notes. He spotted a skinny, dark-haired boy writing furiously – he looked like a good person to ask. Matt pulled out a notebook and wrote ‘ _Can I borrow your notes?_ ’ on the top line. When everyone got up to leave, he made his way over to the kid’s desk and showed him the message.

                The boy looked angry and said something irritably that Matt assumed must be a no. There must have been a question attached to it, though, because the kid was glaring at Matt expectantly. So Matt pointed to his ear – his usual ‘I’m deaf’ signal.

                The boy looked confused for a moment before the realization dawned. He pulled the notebook out of Matt’s hands and frantically wrote what Matt thought must have been several paragraphs. When he’d finished, he sheepishly handed the notebook back.

                ‘ _Oh my God I’m so sorry I had no idea! My friends are all so lazy – they just sit in class and don’t even bother to pay attention, and then they want my notes! And I let them. Why do I let them? It’s gotten really really old and I’m frustrated about it and for a stranger to do it on the first day of school… I’m just really really sorry. Of course you can use my notes. My name’s David, by the way._’

                Matt smiled. ‘ _I’m Matt_ ,’ he wrote. ‘ _Thanks for the notes. I asked the teacher to write some up for me ahead of time, but he just said I was lazy._ ’

                David grimaced. ‘ _That sounds like him. He’s well known around the school for being really horrible. I’ll try to make sure I get everything for you. I’ve got to get to my next class, though. See you around, Matt_!’

                Matt waved at him as he left the room. That had actually gone really well – it was certainly the best conversation he’d ever had with someone that wasn’t his parents.

                Maybe this school wouldn’t be so bad.


	3. A Matt By Any Other Name Would Spell As Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David invites Matt to a giant sleepover with all of David's friends. Against his better judgement, Matt agrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the chapter title I don't even think it makes sense  
> Also sorry it's been so long since I updated I am the WORST

The first week of school passed mostly without incident. Most of his teachers were very accommodating, and the students seemed too busy socializing to pay Matt much attention, which meant that he didn’t have to deal with the teasing he was so used to.

David came up to him at his locker on Friday after the final bell had rung. He handed Matt a notebook with a message already written on it.

_Hey, do you have a phone or something?_

_Yeah, why?_ Matt wrote back.

_Well, I figured that texting would be a whole lot easier than having to pass this notebook back and forth to each other every time we want to talk._

Matt smiled at him and nodded in agreement. They exchanged numbers, and Matt waved goodbye, but David held up his hand in a signal to wait.

David: _Hey, a group of friends and I are meeting up at this café after school. Do you want to come?_

Matt: _Me, hang out with a group of hearing people? I’m sorry, David, but that really doesn’t sound like very much fun. I can’t really keep up a conversation very well if there’s more than one other person involved._

David: _We could do a group text message or something?_

Matt: _Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to have to pass. See you in class Monday._

David: _Okay. See you._

David smiled at him, looking a bit disappointed, then waved and walked away to catch his bus.

 

That night at dinner, Matt made the mistake of bringing this up with his mother.

“ _Have you made any new friends at school?”_ she asked him, as she always did after his first week at a new school, even though the answer was always a resounding “no.”

“ _Yeah, actually, I did.”_

_“Really?”_ Why did she bother to ask if she was going to sound so surprised at his answer?

“ _Yeah. His name’s David, and he’s in Mr. Terrot’s class. He lets me use his notes.”_

_“Well that’s very kind of him.”_

_“Yeah, he’s pretty nice. He even invited me to hang out with all of his friends today.”_

His mom gave him a Look. _“And you said no? Matt, that’s no way to make friends!”_

_“Mom, I can’t make friends in a big group like that! How am I supposed to talk to anyone? I’d end up just being that weird kid sitting in the corner alone!”_ He really, really should not have brought this up.

“ _You can’t know that until you try. That boy was trying to reach out to you and be a good friend and you shut him down.”_

Damn his mom was good. “ _I’ll text him, okay? But they’ve probably already all gone home – they were going somewhere after school.”_

_“Good. But first you’re going to help me clear the table.”_

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

 

Fifteen minutes later he sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone.

Matt: _Hey, David. Sorry about not wanting to hang out earlier. I get a little freaked out at the thought of large groups._

His phone vibrated about fifteen minutes later. He put down the book he was reading for English and picked it up.

David: _Sorry, we were eating dinner. It’s no problem, I understand. Meeting new people has to be twice as hard with the communication barrier there._

Matt: _Yeah. So, listen... I’d really like to hang out with you and your friends some time, if I’m still invited._

David: _Of course you are! Actually… we didn’t get to hang out this afternoon, because Race forgot he had a dentist appointment. So we rescheduled. We’re doing a giant sleepover at Katherine’s house if you want to join us._

David: _Of course you don’t have to stay the night!!! I mean you can if you want but everyone would understand if you weren’t comfortable with that or something._

Matt: _That sounds… fun. I think I’d like to, if that’s okay._

David: _Cool! So Katherine lives at 126 Elm Street. We’re meeting at seven._

David: _Also, if you have any favorite movies, bring them, in case ours don’t have subtitles or something._

Matt: _Okay, see you there._

Matt looked at his clock – 6:10. He’d better get a move on if he didn’t want to be late. He went downstairs to ask his mom if she could drive him, then he packed all of their movies, along with the traditional sleepover fare and a bag of chips his mom insisted on him taking, into his bag. Then they hopped in the car and went about figuring out where Elm Street was.

It took them a while to find it simply because they were looking in all the wrong parts of town. Never in a million years did Matt think he was going to end up in one of the richest areas of the city, staring at one of the largest houses he had ever seen.

“ _Are you sure this is the address?”_ his mom asked him, staring in awe at the building in front of them.

“ _’126 Elm Street’, that’s what the text says…”_ He’d been nervous before, but now he was almost petrified. These people were rich? David hadn’t seemed all that much wealthier than he was…

“ _I can walk you to the door if you’d like?”_ his mom offered.

“ _No… just wait here, okay? In case this is the wrong place.”_ Matt got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Hands shaking, he knocked three times. After a moment, the door opened and a pretty girl smiled at him and said something. When he pointed to his ear, she rolled her eyes (at herself) and pulled out her phone and typed out a message.

_You must be Matt,_ she typed. _Davey told me you were coming. I’m Katherine. C’mon inside, I’ll show you where to put your things._

Matt turned around to wave goodbye to his mom, then followed Katherine downstairs to a large room with several soft-looking couches and a huge TV.

_You’re the first one here,_ Katherine typed out after he’d set his stuff down in a corner. _The others are almost always late – though I expect Davey or Crutchie to be here next._

Someone must have knocked on the door at that moment because Katherine held up a finger and then went back upstairs. Her prediction turned out to be 100% accurate, because she returned with David and a boy who was walking with a crutch, who Matt could only assume was “Crutchie.” David waved happily at Matt when he saw him.

David: _Hey Matt! Glad you made it! This is our friend Crutchie._

Matt waved at the other boy, who smiled kindly and waved back.

Katherine said something to the other two boys, who nodded and pulled out their phones, motioning for Matt to do the same.

David: _We’re going to start the group message now so everyone can get your number ahead of time – it can get a little crazy once everyone is here together. We’ll give you everyone else’s number, and they can get yours once we send out the first message._

After he’d programmed everyone’s number into his phone – and _jeeze_ were there a lot of them –Katherine sent out the first message, which read

Katherine: _Hey everybody, this is the group message we’re going to have going for the evening. The number you don’t recognize is Matt’s._

They went through movies while they waited for everyone to show up. Matt was surprised to find that a few of their movies actually _didn’t_ have any subtitles, which was odd, as most DVDs had several subtitle tracks. As Crutchie and David went through Matt’s impressive DVD collection, more and more people started to show up, and he was introduced to all of David’s friends. By about 7:30, almost everyone had arrived. They were still missing one person – Romeo, apparently – but Katherine led them all upstairs to the kitchen anyway, where some pizzas were sitting on the counter. Apparently rich people still ate such things. Matt had always wondered.

He excused himself for a moment to find the bathroom. When he came back, the group had a new addition, who Matt assumed must be Romeo. He was a lot shorter than Matt had been expecting, with dark skin and dark hair. He’d been expecting some sort of tall blonde-with-blue-eyes type. Romeo caught his eyes and, to Matt’s confusion, frowned. The other boy turned and tapped David on the shoulder. He pointed towards Matt and muttered something to David, who looked at Romeo like he had three heads and then laughed, shaking his head at a now embarrassed looking Romeo. 

Romeo waved at him sheepishly, and Matt waved back. He was a bit confused, but that was pretty normal for him, so he just sat back down at his seat and picked up another slice. 

Matt: _Hey, what was that about?_

David: _Oh my god, Romeo is so dumb. Apparently you’re ‘Specs.’_

Matt: _What does that mean?_

David: _For four days now, he’s been trying to befriend this new kid he calls “Specs.” But no matter how many times he goes up to him, the guy won’t even look at him, like he had no idea Romeo was even there. Apparently on Thursday he even yelled down the hall at the guy._

Matt: _And he never bothered to, I don’t know, wave at me? Tap me on the shoulder?_

David: _Apparently he didn’t want to touch you without permission. He’s not the brightest, socially. It probably never crossed his mind that you actually /couldn’t/ hear him._

Matt met David’s eyes and rolled his own, which made David laugh.

The rest of the night was pretty awkward for Matt, if he was being honest. He had fun, and he could tell that the others were trying really hard to include him, but having all of their conversations on a group chat through texting was just not going to happen. He watched everyone from the couch as they talked and laughed and did all sorts of stupid stuff. To be completely honest, he was feeling a little left out.

Everyone decided to go outside to play some sort of game in the dark, but Matt decided he’d rather just stay inside. Katherine showed him how to work the game systems and the DVD player, then followed the rest of the rather rowdy boys outside.

Matt sat just staring at the wall for a minute, wondering if coming to this sleepover had been a good idea at all. He was about to get up and turn on the PlayStation when Romeo came back into the room and plopped down beside him on the couch. Romeo waved at him with a smile, then pulled out his phone to text.

Romeo: _I assume davey told u about how much of an idiot I am?_

Matt smiled at him. 

Specs: _It’s fine. Stuff like that happens all the time._

 

Romeo: _It was rlly stupid of me. Davey even mentioned a deaf kid. I should have put 2 and 2 together_

 

Specs: _Seriously, it’s fine._

 

Romeo: _Whats it like?_

 

He winced as soon as he sent it, but of course he couldn’t take it back. Matt just smiled at him again. He smiled at people a lot, unfortunately. That was the only way he really had of reassuring people.

 

Specs: _It kind of sucks. The world is not made for deaf people. Especially not public school._

 

Romeo: _U do get to use daveys notes though. Thats pretty lucky. He wont let us even look at them._

 

Specs: _He said that’s because you’re all lazy._

 

Romeo laughed. 

 

Romeo: _That would be true_

 

They sat in an awkward silence for a while. Matt watched Romeo’s leg bounce rapidly.After a minute or so, they both picked up their phones at the same time. They laughed, and Romeo motioned for Matt to text first.

 

Specs: _I was just going to ask if you wanted to play a game or something._

 

Romeo: _Do u want to play the Wii? Usually kath doesnt let us touch it but I think thats bc last time we all got together to play Mario Kart mush almost strangled elmer_

 

Specs: _Should we really use Katherine’s things without permission?_

 

Romeo: _Yeah, its fine. She just doesn’t want us to kill each other. What do you want to play?_

 

Specs: _Mario Kart is fine, if you want to._

 

Romeo: _As long as I get to be Mario ;)_

 

Romeo got up and rummaged through a closet. Matt watched him extract the Wii and two remotes, then plug the system into the TV and slide a disk into the rectangular machine. Matt selected his usual character, Rosalina. Romeo gave him a funny look.

Specs: _She’s clearly the best racer, especially on the bikes. Perfect combo of weight, speed, and acceleration._

The truth was that Matt really just liked the color of her dress, and the fact that she was usually followed around by a neat little star. He put his settings on manual mode and was amused at Romeo’s sudden look of smug superiority, which was soon wiped clean off his face when he realized that Matt _knew what he was doing._

It turned out that Romeo must be _very_ used to winning at Mario Kart, because as Matt won race after race, he began to get more and more sulky. After Matt came in first in their tenth race, Romeo picked up his phone.

Romeo: _How are u that good at Mario Kart? I always win!_

Matt smirked.

Specs: _My dad and I used to play this all the time. I got good._

Romeo jumped suddenly and looked guiltily at the door. Matt turned to look as well and found an almost tired-looking Katherine glaring at them. He quickly signed “ _sorry”_ at her before he realized that she’d probably have no idea what that meant. She just shook their head at them before saying something to Romeo and trudging up the stairs.

Romeo: _She said she just came in to get a box of band aids because sniper scraped her knee climbing up a tree._

Matt nodded and picked his remote back up, but another text came through.

Romeo: _How do you say my name in sign language?_

No one his age had ever asked him how to sign before. He put his phone down and signed, slowly, one by one, R-O-M-E-O. They repeated the signs over and over again until Romeo could do it himself. Then Romeo pointed to Matt, and they had to go through his name as well.

Finally satisfied, Romeo tried out both names one last time, then without fanfare picked the next course and continued the game like nothing had happened.

They hadn’t been playing for very much longer when the rest of the group began filing back in and settled around the TV, watching Romeo get his ass handed to him. Once they finished the set of four races one of the guys - Jack - stood up and waved around to get everyone’s attention. He started to say something, but Crutchie hit him in the legs with his crutch and pointed at Matt. Slightly deflated, Jack made a show of picking up his phone and adding to the group message.

Jack: _Race, Henry, stop clogging up the chat with emojis, would ya? This is supposed to be like a normal conversation._

Race: _And people don’t smile in real convos?_

Jack: _Shut up smartass._  
Jack: _We were thinking of starting a movie now. We’re gonna pick one and then help Kath with the popcorn._

The chat was instantly filled with suggestions and arguments that got completely out of control until Crutchie sent through a message in all caps to get everyone’s attention

Crutchie: _HEY GUYS WAIT A MINUTE WOULD YOU_  
Crutchie: _cool thanks I didn’t think that would work. Anyway, I think that since its his first official newsie sleepover Matt should pick the movie_

Matt: _I’m cool with whatever you guys want to watch._

Sniper: _Well now you definitely have to pick_

Romeo: _no copout answers Specs!! ;)_

Matt: _Fine. I guess I haven’t seen The Winter Soldier yet._

Romeo: _:O :O :O but its the best!!_

Matt watched in amusement as Katherine accidentally turn on the Spanish subtitle track and laughed when they finally realized her mistake. He ended up sitting in between David and Romeo, feeling squashed but otherwise happy, trying to pay attention to both the movie and Romeo and Race’s running text commentary.

Once that movie was over Katherine gave the executive order that the rest of the movies be watched from the comfort of their sleeping bags. They all very kindly let Matt chose his spot first to make sure he had full view of the screen. They watched two more movies before enough people had fallen asleep that no one cared to watch another one, so Katherine turned off the lights with some sort of remote, and those few of them still awake settled down to sleep.

Just as Matt was falling asleep, his phone screen lit up.

Romeo: _I rlly am srry about the whole forgetting deaf ppl exist thing. U seem rlly cool_

Matt: _Like I said, it’s no big deal. And thanks. You’re not too bad yourself._

Romeo: _;) 0:) ;P goodnite_

With that, Matt fell asleep.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) The names at the beginning of the text are what the person receiving the text would see. That's why Matt's texts are sometimes labeled as "Matt" and sometimes as "Specs."  
> 2) I was trying to make people's texts in the way I think they would text. If that (or the Matt/Specs thing) makes this too hard to read/understand for anyone, please tell me and I will fix it ASAP


	4. A Sign of Friendship

            Matt's mom returned at precisely 10:00 the next morning. Though he'd had a fun time with David's friends, he was relieved to finally be in the company of someone who could communicate with him in his own language.

            Of course, his relief lasted about two minutes. She was a mom, after all, and therefore prone to mother-like behavior.

             "So, how'd it go?" she signed at him before he'd even gotten the chance to buckle his seatbelt. He rolled his eyes at her while he was looking down at the buckle.

            "It went fine. David's friends are nice. They tried really hard to make me feel included."

            "That's great! I'm glad you're finally making friends."

            He let her see him roll his eyes this time. "They're not my friends, they're David's." 

            "Still, David's your friend, right? And this is a good way to make more, by spending time with your friends' friends."

            "I guess."

            "Do you think you'll meet with them again?" she asked as she turned into their driveway.

            "I guess. If they invite me, I mean."

             "I'm sure they will. David seems like such a nice boy."

            He just nodded as he got out of the car. Mercifully, his mom didn't ask him anymore questions, and he went up to his room to unpack his bag. Then he lay down on his bed to study some of his notes.

            He was woken by the insistent vibration of his phone in his pocket. He fished groggily around his pocket and was met with three new text messages. He unlocked his phone and was surprised to see that they were from two different people. Usually when he got a series of texts in quick succession it was because David made a typo in the first and rushed to correct it before Matt could think he was losing his academic edge.

            As a matter of fact, there was only one text from David, which merely thanked him for coming to the sleepover and hoped he'd enjoyed himself.

            The other two were from Romeo. 

            Romeo: Had fun meeting u last nite ;)

            Romeo: Im going over 2 scout's 2day 2 play mario kart. U better get ready 2 get ur ass kicked XD

            Specs: Yeah, right. Practice all you want. I could still beat you with my eyes shut

            He got up off his bed and made his way to the kitchen. He got his reply from Romeo just as he was sliding the grilled cheese into the pan.

             Romeo: Ur gonna eat ur words. Me and scout r gonna practice all day. She said shes gonna teach me all the good tricks :P

            Matt: Even the best tricks can't beat raw talent

             Romeo: Im the best mario kart player in r group and im not gonna give up my throne 2 a friend of daveys

            Matt: You're David's friend 

            It took three minutes for the response to come back.

            Romeo: Shut up

             Romeo: I g2g my bro needs me 2 walk him 2 the library

            Matt: Have fun at Scout's. Don't get your hopes up about getting good enough to beat me

            Romeo: :P

             ***** 

           School on Monday morning was less than enjoyable. David had a chemistry test that afternoon (chemistry was his worst subject, meaning he had a 96), and did nothing but freak out any time Matt tried to engage him in conversation.  Then there was a pop quiz in English on the book they were supposed to be reading. Matt had read it before, so he didn't bother reading it again. He had figured that he remembered enough to be able to answer questions about it, but the questions on the quiz went into such deep detail that Matt would have been surprised if _anyone_ had known half of the answers.

             He slumped down into his seat at lunch, staring at his slightly soggy sandwich and letting himself wallow in self-pity for a few minutes. He was just about to start eating when someone dropped into the seat across from him.

            "I lost my phone number. Can I have yours?"

            Romeo's hands moved clumsily, some of the signs barely recognizable, but they were _signs._ Romeo had just _signed_ at him.

            Romeo was staring at him expectantly, but Matt didn't know what to do. It was a good thing he couldn't talk, because his breath was caught in a lump in his throat.

            Finally, Romeo got tired of waiting for Matt to respond and pulled out his phone.

            Romeo: cmon say somethin i practiced that all nite 

            Specs: You signed at me

            Romeo: well yea ur deaf i cant talk 2 u

            Specs: No one has ever bothered to learn to sign for me before

            Romeo: Really? :(

            Romeo: O i practiced this 2 watch

            Romeo put his phone down and slowly signed "My name is Xomeo."

            Matt smiled at him and signed the correction "Romeo."

            Romeo: I cant believe i messed that up i practiced all nite

             Specs: It's an easy mistake to make. The x does sort of look like an r

            Romeo: :(

            Specs: Where did you learn to sign?

            Romeo perked up and dug through his bookbag, pulling out a book and sliding it over to Matt. It was a library book called _Sign Language for Beginners_.

            Romeo: I saw it on the shelf while my bro was looking 4 the books he needed

            Specs: Thank you, Romeo 

           Romeo: I mean it must get annoying 2 have 2 text every time u want 2 say something

            Matt smiled at him as people around him started to get up and file out of the room. Romeo waved goodbye and rushed off down the hall. Matt watched him go, the lump in his throat doing something to his heart, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo sorry this story is taking me so long to update I'm the worst. I'm also sorry that a) the chapter is so short, b) the chapter titles suck, and c) the writing isn't that great.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me!


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